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Scott Spiezio postgame interview

Scott Spiezio postgame interview

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Can you just talk about that play, it
looked like a home run at first and can you just
take us through that, what was going through
your mind?

SCOTT SPIEZIO:

Well, I still
haven't seen the play, but as far as the at-bat went,
he threw me two changeups and I swung through
them. So I had to kind of shorten my swing in my
mind and be ready for that changeup again. He
threw me two fastballs, pulled the first one foul.
Second one, I got enough of it and it got in a hair,
but I got enough of it at least to get it over Green's
glove, barely. But I'll take it.
It was one of those situations
where I was thinking in my head more a changeup
than a fastball, and I was still able to put the meat
of the bat on it.

Your bullpen has been amazing in
the postseason and so much talk going into
the series was about the Mets' bullpen. Can
you just talk a little bit about how important it is
for you guys to have your bullpen doing so
well?

SCOTT SPIEZIO: Well, you need
a clutch bullpen when you get into postseason,
and our bullpen has been unbelievable.
Our young guys have stepped it
up and really faced the pressure amazingly. We
talked to them and they asked a lot of questions to
the guys that have been in postseason play
before, and I also think that in the last week of the
season, when we were fighting for a playoff berth
against the Astros that that was kind of a playoff
atmosphere and helped get us ready for this.

Were you looking at the ball, the one
you hit off Green, and when you were running
the bases, did you get any kind of view at it and
what did you think?

SCOTT SPIEZIO:

I thought it was
a home run. (Laughing) No, I saw it, it was high,
so I was basically watching it the whole time.
It was really hard for me to tell, so
I'm sure, you know, it was a tough call. I'd like to
see it on the replay just for myself. But thank God
it doesn't even matter, so either way, I'm happy
with it.

Just talk about the depth, obviously,
now the two biggest rallies started by guys
considered bench guys, the depth on your
team.

SCOTT SPIEZIO:

Ever since the
playoffs with Jimmy Edmonds and Eckstein and
Rolen have come back healthy, our bench has
gotten really deep now. We've got great hitters
coming off the bench, hitters that can start on
many other teams, and that's a luxury to have in
the playoffs.
Our bullpen is deep, as well. So
it's great, it's great for us, it gives us a lot of
confidence to know that we can come up in certain
situations and make a move to bring in a lefty or a
righty, we have a guy that can come up and
pinch-hit in a crucial situation.

What does it do for your confidence
when Tony puts you in the starting lineup
ahead of a great player like Scott Rolen?

SCOTT SPIEZIO:

Well, you know,
in any normal situation, if Rolen was anywhere
near the way he should be, you know, I wouldn't
have started.
But, you know, with that situation, I
still feel, it does give me a lot of confidence
because Tony puts me in a situation and knows
that -- feels that I can have some big at-bats for
him. Whenever you have a manager that has
confidence in you, like he does every guy on the
team, it boosts the whole morale of the team. I
think it gets us excited when we get put in those
situations.

We think of Albert Pujols for his
power hitting, but tonight he got on, walks,
singled, doubled and managed to score two
times. Just talk about that a little bit.

SCOTT SPIEZIO:

You know,
great hitters have to do that because they don't get
a lot of pitches to hit in big situations. You see
Bonds scoring a lot of runs because he gets
walked, smart enough to take a walk, smart
enough to take a single when he has to. And
Albert has been doing a great job in the
postseason getting on for us and starting rallies.
That's pretty big for a guy that's used to driving in
140 runs a year and hitting 50 home runs to have
to take those walks on a big stage like this.

STATEMENT FROM TIM WELKE
"I felt I had the call correct the entire way.
Under the circumstances, I wanted to confirm it
with the other umpires. It was an overall effort to
make sure the call was correct. The entire crew
was in agreement from their respective vantage
points."

Courtesy of FastScripts by ASAP Sports.
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.